Donkey Wood

Donkey wood which is on the border between Hounslow and Feltham was where I spent much of my early teens. My mates Kev, Robert, Ian and particularly Dom and I were it seems, mucking about in the woods or on neighbouring Hounslow Heath almost every day.
Donkey wood lies on the Western bank of the River Crane and stretches from the Staines Road (A315) in the South to the Great South West Road (A30) in the North. When I was a lad the wood was less restricted than it now is and at the Northern end we would play and lounge on the banks of resevoir that is now fenced off like Guantanamo. Nowadays Donkey Wood is a nature reserve and as I say is more restricted than it once was when it was just a plain wood but it remains a facinating place and admittedly less rubbish strewn and polluted by nearby factories etc than it was in my youth.
What is most striking about Donkey wood are the ruins scattered about the place such as shown in the picture above. Continued next page..........